Days Until Heartbreak/Peace
she would always yell when she said her piece but this is where i'll find peace part twenty two of Days Until Heartbreak I'm still shaking as I escape from Aura's territory. As the familiar trees fade away and I'm back in the forest where I've been living for the past few days. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down before continuing towards the camp. I have no where else to go. I might as well engross myself in helping the Alcove. On the way back to the camp, I catch a few rabbits. Greta gives me a quick smile when I return and I drop off the prey near the growing prey-pile. Sighing, I had for my den. "Hey, Sari, right?" A young tom called Dash comes up to me. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go out hunting with me. I know you just went but-" "Sure," I mew casually. I don't have anything to do in my den anyways, "I don't mind going out again." He gives me a shy smile and we set out. "You don't seem to mind the other cats avoiding you," Dash murmurs, "I mean I took it pretty hard that first moon. I always found myself wandering away and thinking about leaving. But I was young and I had no way of surviving unless I found a group who wanted me." "There are groups out there," I sigh, "You just have to look for the right place." "But Greta's group is the only one that will actually take you," Dash interjects, "Other groups aren't very welcoming or they're not really a committee helping one another." "That's true." We keep walking. "Though you know how to survive by yourself; why did you follow Greta and stay here in the Alcove?" Dash tips his head, "There's no reason for you to rely on us." I stop for a moment. I've always assumed that I would need a place to live. A group was what kept me sane, whether or not it would consist of one other cat or more than twenty. But...Dash was right, wasn't he? "I'm sorry," Dash mews hurriedly when he notices me hesitation, "Am I being insensitive?" "No," I shake my head, "You've given me something to think about." The young tom stares at me. "Can I ask you another question?" "Of course." "Why are you out here in the first place?" He scuffs his paws, "I mean you led a group of strong, independent she-cats. You had no reason to leave. You were the leader after all. So what made you leave? I've heard rumors for the past moon or so saying that you had no home anymore." I flinch. Dash immediately backs away. "I'm sorry," he says again, "I-" "No," I stop him, "That was an honest question. I just...it was unexpected that's all." Relief floods in his gaze. "Oh. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I shouldn't have asked such a personal question." "Let me ask you a question first," I mew instead, "Why are you out here? What happened to make you an outcast and gave you no choice but to follow Greta?" Dash's eyes are solemn. "It's a long story. I'm not sure if you'll believe it but it's true." "It started when I was a kit..." "My father hated me from the very beginning. It's weird because he was always raving about he wanted a tom before I was born but when my mother gave birth to me and died for it, it drove him crazy. He treasured my two sisters from then on, which was also crazy because he used to ''hate them before. So he used me for everything. When cats asked who I was, he would say he bought me from a side couple who didn't want me.'' "I've heard of stories like those and I find those sad. As the moons went on, his actions turned vicious and dangerous. He would force me to do all the hard work while my sisters relaxed and had their own fun. Except he wasn't exactly nice with them either. "My father was the head of some sort of gang society. They all treated me the same way my father did, and of course, treasured my two sisters. Since it was a mostly tom sort of gang, my sisters were the play toys while I was the rat. You could say they didn't really have nice lives either. "It went on for moons. I was too afraid to escape on my own, as I was stark terrified of the gang. Plus, my father would threaten me to ensure that I stay. My sisters were constantly used by the gang members, and well, both had to mature rather fast because of the experience. "One day one of my sisters got rebellious. She got mad at my father for telling one of the members that he could have her that night when she honestly didn't want to go with him. It was always like this for my two sisters. They were almost never home because they had to deal with the toms who wanted them. It made them pretty tough. And so when my sister tried to fight back, my father had to play rough with her too. He ended up dealing two hard blows to her skull and killed her. "I was there the entire time. My father stared in shock at her dead body. One of the reasons most of the gang members actually liked him was because of the treasures that he holds. They love my sisters and they enjoy the pleasure of having them whenever they wanted. Because of his actions he had just lost one of his precious presents. "He instantly turned on me. 'You'll the blame, won't you, Dash?' He had mewed, his eyes narrowed. 'You won't tell them what really happened will you?' "I was too terrified to try to fight back. I feared that I would end up like my sister, another dead body on the floor to kick aside. 'I killed her,' I whispered back obediently, 'You'll punish me for it.' "'That's a good kit,' my father had snarled. He dug his claws into my right ear and tugged me outside, 'You'll pay for your crimes.' "He told everyone that I was the one who killed my sister, trying to get revenge on my father. Of course he 'caught' me but it was already too late. He even let the gang loose on me before casting me out. To this day I still bear some of the scars. "Greta found me a day later, wandering around, starving. I guess you could say I found peace in the Alcove and that's why I'm still here..." Dash falls silent after this. He won't meet my gaze. "Most cats don't like talking to me after they hear my story. But their stories aren't much better either." He finally catches my gaze. "Well? I told you my story, are you going to tell me yours?" "It's not quite as...emotional to say the least. Most of it is my fault anyways." And so I tell him. I tell him about Aura and the group and how I first met Ice. The feelings I had when I first met the white tom and how I felt when I finally fell for him. Then I got into detail how Aura drove me away due to the fact that I had loved a tom of all things. "There's been troubles with Ice too...so I really have no home," I admit, "But I guess you can I say I've found peace in the Alcove too."